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Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds is a medieval earthwork monument comprising a series of low, elongated ridges characteristic of pillow mound construction. These features were created deliberately during the medieval period to provide controlled warrens for rabbit breeding, a valuable resource for meat and fur during this era. The mounds at this site exploit a landscape underlain by Upper Devonian sandstone and conglomerate, which would have influenced both construction methods and water drainage across the warren.
The monument sits protected under Cadw's care as a scheduled monument, designated BR252. Pillow mounds represent a sophisticated understanding of animal husbandry and landscape management by medieval communities, who engineered these artificial environments to improve breeding conditions and contain populations. The regular, systematic arrangement of mounds at Pen Bwlych Glascwm reflects the organised nature of medieval warren management.
Today the pillow mounds survive as undulating earthworks across the site, their form still visible despite the passage of centuries. They represent an important phase in the economic development of medieval Wales, when such warrens formed a significant part of manorial economies, contributing to diet and income alike.
Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR252. View the official record →
Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds is a medieval earthwork monument comprising a series of low, elongated ridges characteristic of pillow mound construction. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference BR252.
Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a pillow mound. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is BR252.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Rhymney Upper Furnace (7.4 km), Morlais Hill ring cairn (7.8 km), Morlais Castle (8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Pen Bwlych Glascwm Pillow Mounds stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.